


Body Image

by isissa



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Body Image, Fluff, Glitches, M/M, One Shot, glitchy mettaton during any sort of strong emotional response is my jam, honestly this is so short idk how to tag it, paps is hella ace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5451983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isissa/pseuds/isissa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>something about writing mettaton as insecure behind the scenes is just too tempting for me. nice short papyton fluff. I'm new to writing crying dialogue so critique is very much welcome.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Body Image

 

The early hours of dawn brought with them the shrill beeping of an alarm clock beside Papyrus' bed. The skeleton, still foggy from sleep, rolled over in bed, reaching out to the alarm clock. He pressed down the snooze button, sitting up in bed and looking around the room to orient himself. Next, he took a few steps out of bed and began to stretch out, as per his morning routine. Undyne had told him once that she did this every morning, so naturally, Papyrus did too.

 

Once he had finished stretching, Paps threw on a fresh tshirt and pair of shorts, then made his way out of his room. Downstairs, he could see Mettaton curled up on the couch. Soft humming from his internal workings could be heard, along with the whispers of a show on the television, turned all the way down to near silence. Papyrus skipped down the stairs and approached his boyfriend slowly, so as not to disturb him.

 

The night before, Sans had adamantly insisted Mettaton wouldn't stay over. _“It's not you I don't trust, Paps. It's him.”_ Unfortunately, the snow that surrounded Papyrus' abode from all sides did not bode well with Mettaton's servos, and he was forced to stay the night with them. Papyrus was glad to see Sans must've given up watching Mettaton at some point and gone to bed. 

 

Taking a few more gentle steps towards him, Papyrus crouched down to look at Mettaton's face. To his surprise, he saw something he'd never seen before. Mettaton's hair was messy and unkempt, so the side of his face that was usually hidden was now partially visible. Underneath, he could see exposed wires and a soft light. Papyrus' eyes locked onto the dark spot on the robot's usually glowing face.

 

Now, the Great Papyrus knew he shouldn't breach other people's privacy, but he also knew he was very curious as to what Mettaton's entire face actually looked like. Reaching out one hand, Papyrus gently lifted the rest of the tousled hair off of Mettaton's face. Behind it was a mess of wires and a single dimly lit light that seemed to pulse. Papyrus used his thumb to gentle stroke the synthetic skin around the opening, observing the slightly uneven edges around the opening. From the corner of his eye, Paps saw Mettaton's eye flutter open.

 

It took a second, but Mettaton groggily directed his gaze up to Papyrus' face, to which he gave a warm smile. A second later, his gaze flittered to the hand that was caressing his face. Mettaton's muscles seemed to tense and stiffen, and he shot up from his place laying on the couch. He stood just in front of it, staring down at Papyrus. Papyrus pulled his hand back and sat back on the ground, concern washing over his features. Mettaton glanced down at the robot while placing his hand directly over the opening in his face. Something like fear or shame reflected in Mettaton's eye, and Papyrus was sure he was shivering just slightly.

 

“Pap-Papyrus, dear-” Mettaton's shaky voice was cut off by an intense glitching sound. He began to shake very visibly, both hands now up to his face. Papyrus was speechless, but shot to his feet and wrapped his arms around Mettaton. He wasn't sure how badly he'd messed up, but he knew he had to try to fix it.

 

Mettaton's voice was shaking, laced with the same sort of fear Papyrus had felt in his gaze earlier, but he managed to speak after a few moments. “Did you...see that?”

 

Papyrus had his head tucked into Mettaton's neck, but nodded anyway. “I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snuck up on you while you were asleep, Mettaton.”

 

“O-Oh, oh dear...” Mettaton's internal fans whirred loudly inside his chest plating. “That wasn't – you weren't meant to...only...only Alphys was meant to-” another abrupt glitching sound cut Mettaton's voice off again. Papyrus moved his hands to Mettaton's shoulders and leaned back to look at his face again. A thin stream of dark oil had formed beneath Mettaton's eye and was slowly rolling down his cheek. Papyrus didn't know Mettaton  _could_ cry, even so, this wasn't the way he wanted to find out. He did his best to wipe some of the oil off Mettaton's cheek. 

 

“Mettaton...” Papyrus cooed softly, still lightly stroking the robot's cheek. “It's okay. You don't have to cry, the Great Papyrus is here for you.”

 

Mettaton moved one hand from the unfinished side of his face to wipe the tears off the other side. “It's not okay.” he insisted, voice coming out half sob and half glitched mess. “I didn't want anybody to see that, b-bec-cause it's not-” Mettaton's shaking increased for a moment as he tried to steel his emotions enough to speak properly. “it's not beautif-ful at all.”

 

Papyrus smiled a bit and gently pulled Mettaton closer to him, resting their foreheads together. “I think all of you is beautiful, Mettaton.” Papyrus' hand ran down Mettaton's forearm, “Your arms, your hands,” then through his hair, “your silky hair, your legs, and especially your face.”

 

Mettaton's shaking slowed down a bit, but his tears still flowed quite freely. “Pappy,...” He removed the other hand from his face and snuggled down into the crook of the skeleton's neck. The two were beginning to feel awkward standing in the middle of the room, so Papyrus gently guided them onto the couch, where they kept up the gentle embrace. After a few long moments, Mettaton leant back, avoiding the taller's gaze while he placed his hands over the skeleton's. Gently moving Papyrus' hand along with his, Mettaton brushed away the last of his hair from his face, sweeping it behind his ear.

 

“M...Mettaton?”

 

“It's, um,... Not finished.” Mettaton sighed, grip tightening slightly on his boyfriend's hand. “Th-this, I mean. Alph-phys said she'd fix it for me, but since we all came to the surface, it's just been so busy...”

 

“I had no idea.” Papyrus' speech seemed humbled in the face of such a raw, almost defenseless Mettaton. He put extra care into sounding as gentle as possible.

 

“I h-hate it.” Mettaton bit his lip, pearly whites making an indent in the vinyl of his face. “I love this body, it's perfect, except for that. That's why we decided – Alphys and I – that my hair would just stay like this, until we had the time to do something proper to c-cover it.” Mettaton sighed once more. “Having you see it...the worst part of myself...scares me, Pappy.”

 

Papyrus laughed, just quietly, gently, causing Mettaton to glance up in surprise. “Silly...I don't think any part of you is bad, Mettaton. You're just a big...pile of  _good_ , all in one!” Papyrus used his other hand to grasp Mettaton's firmly. “I love every bit of you, so there's no need to be scared. I think you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.” 

 

Mettaton wrapped his boyfriend into a hug. Humming into the crook of his neck and shoulder. “Oh, Pappy...you're so sweet, darling.”

 

“Of course I am! Dessert is the most important meal of the day, so it's no wonder~!” Papyrus had straightened his back as he said that, but soon returned to relaxing in Mettaton's arms. “This will be our secret, okay? You, me, and Alphys.” 

 

“Alright sweetie. That sounds wonderful.”

 

Neither of them noticed the short skeleton by the stairs who had been watching their exchange for some time now, who had begun to put a bit of trust into their brother's partner.


End file.
